Ten Years
by mukashimukashi
Summary: An argument on Noodle's  10th birthday leads to a trip to the hospital. One-shot!


Noodle hated it when 2D and Murdoc argued.

"…But it's Nyewdle's birfday, we should take the day off!"

"Do you understand the word 'deadline'? Or are you too styoopid to get it through your thick, deformed head that we've got to finish the album before our producer-"

"Oi, I know wot deadline means you sod, it's how you can tell somebody's dead on the heart monitor machine fing. beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeep. Oh no he's dead ahhh…" said 2D, his voice trailing off. He waved his hands around for dramatic effect.

Murdoc gaped at the ditzy blue haired singer, looking a bit like an angry fish, and leaned on the doors of the Kong Studios elevator as if he would fall over without the support.

"That. Is a 'flat line' dullard, and that's what YOUR 'h-heart monitah masheen finggg'", he said, mocking 2D in a high pitched Cockney accent, "will look like if you don't shut yer face and RECORD THE REST OF THIS SODDING ALBUM..."

Noodle had no idea what "deadline" or "flat line" meant either. She could barely even make out a word of the whole argument. But the 10 year old could sense the rage radiating from her band mates, and hear the fury in their voices as they pelted harsh words at one another. The argument was on the brink of becoming more than verbal. She had to do something.

Noodle suddenly walked up to the bickering men, and gave a small cough to alert them of her presence. She was hard to notice, being little for her age, and produced virtually no sound when she walked. Noodle would remember years later that she had been trained to have this ability.

2D and Murdoc looked down at the small Japanese girl. She had jet black hair that was long on the sides and on top, remnants of her original samurai haircut, while the rest of her hair was short and choppy. Under her tan jacket, she was draped in a purple sweater so large only the hem of her blue pleated skirt was visible. Goofy lavender and blue striped stockings covered her legs. She dug her combat boot-clad foot into the carpeted ground, and the pint-sized rock star looked up pleadingly at the men that towered over her.

"Ano…mou kenka shinaide kudasai…" she tried, then with a renewed burst of confidence, "Fightingu bad! Nuudoru sutoppu wanto!"

Murdoc gave a throaty chuckle. "See, Faceache? She clearly wants to record the guitar track for M1A1, and it would make her sooo so sad to waste time on birthday celebrations. Come on, little love!" he chirped, grabbing a hold of Noodle's hand and leading her in the direction of the recording studio.

Noodle gave a confused squeak when 2D grabbed her other hand.

"She WONTS to take a break and celebrate her BIRFDAY!" 2D protested.

Murdoc scowled at 2D, and gave Noodle's arm a tug. "Recording!"

2D responded with a tug of his own. "Birfday!"

Murdoc pulled harder this time. "Album!"

"Party!"

"Deadline!"

"Beeep!"

Suddenly Noodle yelped, and a sickening "pop!" came from her shoulder.

2D and Murdoc stopped pulling and let go of her arms in a flash as if they had touched a hot stove.

Noodle's face was frozen in a grimace as she felt a searing ache make itself present in upper arm. In seconds, the pain grew until it felt like it was on fire.

Noodle snapped, and let out a high pitched scream, voicing her agony. The pain was unbearable.

2D stood rigid with his hands clenching his face in horror. He couldn't even bear it when Noodle had the slightest of injuries. Did he seriously hurt her?

Murdoc, not overpowered by anxiety, was the first to rush into action. "You awright love? Where does it hurt?" he asked her, trying to speak loudly over her screaming.

Noodle took in a shuddering breath. "Ude ga itai…kata mo…kataaaaAAAAA!" The word crescendoed into a wail and she began to sob.

Suddenly a large, intimidating man with dark skin and ghostly white eyes burst into the lobby. "WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE?" he boomed.

"Oi, Russ we were…" Murdoc began, but his mouth snapped shut as Noodle let out another wail.

Russel rushed over to the girl. Her breath was coming out in great shuddering sobs, and she was pointing frantically to her arm. He gently lifted up the sleeve of Noodle's sweatshirt until her whole arm was visible. He stifled a gasp when he caught sight of a large, unnatural looking bulge protruding from Noodle's shoulder, not wanting to scare the girl.

Russel rolled her sleeve back down to her elbow, and then jerked his head around to glare at 2D and Murdoc. 2D was still frozen in fear, except for his knees that were now knocking together. Murdoc stood with his arms crossed, wearing his best poker face.

"I'll deal wit you two later," he growled, "But fo now we need ta git this girl to the hospital."

It was quite a scene when the Gorillaz band in its entirety burst through the doors of The Essex Emergency Room. Russel held the whimpering Japanese girl in his arms as he lumbered toward front desk. Murdoc and 2D trailed behind him, trading worried glances and the usual accusatory stare.

While Russel filled out the paperwork the receptionist handed him, 2D attempted to pacify Noodle, who was now sitting in one of the lavender plush chairs that lined the walls. He awkwardly picked up one of the children's books sprawled out on a wooden table, and sat down next to the injured girl.

"Look Newds, this one's abou' a monkey!" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "Man-ki?" Noodle sniveled.

"Yer, this one kind ov looks like Mike, don't it?"said 2D, pointing to one of the illustrations of a chimpanzee. She looked where 2D pointed, and her teary red eyes lit up with understanding. "Saru ya! Maiku mitai!" she smiled weakly, "Is Man-ki?"

"Tha's right, it's cowlled a 'monkey', you know, they go loike this," 2D said, scratching his armpits as if he were an ape.

Noodle giggled. "2D…is Gorira!"

2D laughed with delight. It was one of the first coherent sentences she had ever formed in English. "Nyewdle is gorilla!" he retorted jokingly.

Russel smiled when he noticed the silly conversation his two band mates were engaged in. He was both glad and impressed that 2D had succeeded in distracting her from her pain. Those two seemed to have an almost mystical bond between them.

Russel chose not to bring up her injury so she wouldn't get upset again. She still felt the burning ache in her shoulder, but the laughter had a numbing affect.

"Watchu two gigglin' about over here?" said Russel, still beaming as he approached them. Then a thought suddenly hit him. "Where did Muds run off to?"

2D shrugged, noticing the bassist's absence for the first time. Noodle looked around, hoping to see the subject of their incomprehensible conversation. Russel bent down to Noodle's level. "Uh…Murdoc wa doko? Shiteru?" he asked in Noodle's language. He had taken a few Japanese classes in high school, and used the little that he remembered to translate at times.

"Aa! Acchi ya nen!" chirped Noodle, pointing to her left. The two men's eyes shot toward the direction of Noodle's finger. Sure enough, Murdoc was there, chatting up a shapely blonde nurse. 2D, Russel, and Noodle could tell by his facial expression that he was doing some heavy flirting.

"Yerrr see that little Japanese lass over there? She's my adopted daughter. I can't stand to see her suffering like this," Murdoc told the nurse in a disgusting tone of feigned concern.

"Awww…you have a daughter? That's so sweet! You must be sooo worried," the nurse cooed as she embraced Murdoc. He smirked and made a lewd gesture behind her back. Noodle put her finger to her mouth and cocked her head in curiosity before Russel covered her eyes.

Suddenly a man in white with a large beard walked into the hospital lobby holding a clipboard. "…Noodle?" he said loudly with an American accent, shaking his head at the strange name.

"Nuudoru!" Noodle piped, and without thinking, she raised her injured arm and yelped. Fresh tears began to roll down her face as the searing pain coursed through her arm.

Murdoc walked over to them and joined the group. "We snogged," he said triumphantly. "Is it time to see the doctor yet?"

Noodle trembled as she sat on the examining table in the doctor's office, partly from pain, but mostly from fear. What was he going to do to her arm to fix it? Would it hurt even more than it does already?

The bearded doctor gestured to Noodle that she take off her jacket and sweater. She nodded, and stripped down until she was in a pink short-sleeve shirt. The doctor lifted up the sleeve and whistled. "That's some dislocated shoulder you've got there. See this?" he said, pointing at the knob on her shoulder, "That's your bone. It's gone out of its socket."

Russel attempted to translate until Noodle got the idea. The doctor chuckled. "What were you guys doing, playing tug-of-war with her?" he joked. 2D and Murdoc giggled nervously, and Russel rolled his eyes.

"Well let's get down to business," said the doctor, "This might feel weird, but it won't hurt." Noodle inhaled in apprehension as the doctor took hold of her arm. Russel put a hand on her good shoulder to calm her.

The doctor suddenly jerked her arm and rotated it, and Noodle felt her bone pop back into its rightful place. The pain instantly disappeared, and Noodle sighed happily. "Sore dake?" she beamed.

"She said 'that's it?'" explained Russel, and the room filled with relieved laughter.

It was then that Noodle noticed that the room was covered in Halloween decorations. Paper ghosts and witches covered the walls. She then realized something with a jolt. Is it Halloween tonight? Then that means…

"Uchi no tanjoubi ya!" she exclaimed.

"Is she saying something about the decorations?" asked the doctor, stroking his beard absent-mindedly.

Russel shook his head and smiled. "I heard the word 'birthday'. I think she forgot about it until now. But I didn't…"

When the band got back to their hilltop home, Russel led Murdoc, 2D and Noodle to the kitchen. Russel had told Noodle to cover her eyes until she got there. 2D held her hand to keep her from falling.

"Noodle, ima me wo akete! Open your eyes, baby girl."

Noodle did as she was told, and gasped. She felt a lump in her throat as she gazed around the room. The kitchen was decorated in pink and purple, her favorite colors, with Japanese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. On the table sat a large cake with ten candles, iced to look like a fed-ex crate. Russel had even taken the time to mount a banner, that said "Happy Birthday, Noodle!" in Japanese lettering.

Tears of joy and appreciation began to creep down Noodle's face. A little embarrassed, she tried to wipe the tears off with the sleeve of her jacket, but they came in such succession it was impossible. She looked up at her beloved brothers red-faced, and blubbered "sank you" over and over again.

"Haaappy biiirfday too youuu," 2D began, and Murdoc and Russel joined in to serenade the now sobbing Noodle. "HAAAAPY BIIIRTHDAY TO YOUUU…"

"You look like a MONKEY and you smell loike one too!" sang 2D, and Noodle laughed through her tears at their inside joke.

"Make a wish, Noodle," said Russel gently, rubbing her shoulders.

"Weesh?"

"Well…think of something that you want…like uh…something something onegaishimasu?" he struggled.

Noodle made a fist and pounded her other hand with it, a gesture of understanding.

"I want…I want to be with my family, always," she thought as she blew out the candles. Russel snapped a picture just as the smoke began to spiral into the air…

A 20-year old Noodle sat in a yellow lifeboat, adrift in the Pacific Ocean. She was holding a slightly wet Polaroid picture in her hands. She carefully wiped of some of the moisture on the picture with her red and white dress, and stared lovingly at the photograph.

She smiled peacefully behind her oriental cat mask. "Soon I will get my wish," she said aloud, surprised at how loud her voice was. She hadn't spoken since she escaped the sinking ship.

She tore her eyes away from the picture, and shifted her gaze toward the pink spec in the distance…

* * *

><p>thanks for reading! here is zee reference for Noodle's outfit :D<p>

.com/imgres?imgurl=.&imgrefurl=.com/blog/tag/video/&usg=_lq_sAwMvJIFCaCSqnFSW8crWPBY=&h=1024&w=1280&sz=358&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=kcNw8s9XJ-UIgM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=163&ei=5mifTZ_4FY-2tweu_qWKAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkid%2Bnoodle%2Bgorillaz%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1200%26bih%3D567%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=421&oei=5mifTZ_4FY-2tweu_qWKAw&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0&tx=100&ty=78

so about the Japanese in this story...Noodle speaks in a kansai dialect, being from Osaka, so she doesn't speak standard Japanese. WOW I am a dork. Here's some translations for those who care. I know a good bit of Japanese so I had fun with this.

"Mou kenka shinaide kudasai"= Please don't fight anymore  
>"Ude ga itai"=my arm hurts<br>"kata mo"= (my) shoulder also  
>"kaTAAAAAA!"=shoulder, turning into into a yell<br>"Saru ya! Maiku mitai!" =It's a monkey! It looks like Mike!  
>"Murdoc wa doko"=where's murdoc?<br>"Shiteiru?"= (do you) know?  
>"Aa, acchi ya!" =Oh, he's over there!<br>"Nuudoru"=Noodle in engrish  
>"Sore dake?"=that's it?<br>"uchi no tanjoubi ya!"It's my birthday!  
>"onegaishimasu"= please<p>

the title refers both to noodle's birthday age and the years that have passed at the end of the story :D


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